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Huge, huge, huge game winning shot by Glen Davis of the Boston Celtics Sunday night to even the playoff series at 2 games apiece.

Glen Davis Winning Shot - 5/10/09 vs. Orlando Magic

In a game the Celtics appeared to have a leg up throughout, the Magic made a comeback late and even took the lead w/ about 11 seconds left.  The Celtics called timeout and lined up a play for anyone not named Davis.  Unfortunately, the Magic defense was overplaying Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, who all would’ve been a better choice that Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

With about 2 seconds left, Pierce, w/ no clear shot of his own, fed the ball to Davis on the baseline.  Without hesitation, Davis rose and launched about an 18-footer  that swished as time expired… Celtics win, Celtics tie series 2-2.

Clutch shot for a reserve, but give the guy credit for doing his job.  During the interview following the intense playoff game, Glen Davis told David Aldridge that he practices that shot all the time and he was prepared for it.  Aldridge’s leadoff question directly suggested Davis was not an original option the Celtics would’ve normally considered, but Davis took the question in stride and kept his composure.  Can you imagine how Ron Artest would have responded to a similar question?

Although not unseen in past 1st round NBA playoff series, a few players and teams this year are scrapping it up a little earlier than might be expected.  Not only are the games pretty physical, but they have also been extremely competitive and entertaining (btw… I know they aren’t as physical as the 80’s).

Most of the action is in the Eastern Conference, where the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls are trying to see if they can go into overtime every game of the series.  The Celtics came in as the favorite (#2 seed), but quickly found out that Derrick Rose & the Bulls are not push-overs.  Boston is lucky to have a series lead right now, especially considering they are missing Kevin Garnett and now Tony AllenLeon Powe.  Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo have played pretty well and they appear to be headed to the 2nd round.  The Bulls still have something to say about that, however, and will attempt to tie the series tonight in Chicago to force a Game 7 match-up.

The Boston-Chicago Game 5 earlier this week featured a questionable hit/slap by Rondo on Brad Miller, which was only called as a 2-shot foul, and likely cost the Bulls the game.  Many are questioning whether or not Rondo should’ve received a flagrant foul - giving the Bulls the free throws and the ball.  Sure, having the ball after Miller missed both FT’s would’ve given them a chance, but Rondo is freakin’ tiny and he “made a basketball move” resulting in no suspension or additional implications.

Further complicating the judgment on the Rondo hit, was Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard receiving a 1-game suspension for elbowing Samuel Dalembert the same night.  Howard deliberately swung the elbow and connected w/ Dalembert’s head, but the refs didn’t see the contact and only assessed Howard a technical foul - he finished the game w/ 24 pts & 24 rbs in the victory.  Had he been ejected from the game, as is standard in that situation, the Philadelphia 76ers may have won the game and gone up in the series.  In addition, Howard would’ve been out of the game and could’ve avoided elbowing his own teammate in the head (Courtney Lee) and losing him for possibly the entire playoffs.

The Miami Heat/Atlanta Hawks series figures to get a bit more testy after Josh Smith missed a showboat thru-the-legs dunk and the Hawks’ announcer dogged on Dwyane Wade.  These two teams have fought hard to be where they’re at, but Atlanta may have given Miami the motivation it needs to come back and win the series (ATL leads 3-2).

The Western Conference, on the other hand, looks tame compared to these playoff series.  The Denver Nuggets blew out the New Orleans Hornets en-route to the 2nd round for the first time in Carmelo Anthony’s young career.  The trade for Chauncey Billups has already proven to be worthwhile in so many ways.  The Lakers handily defeated the Utah Jazz in 5 games, as did the Dallas Mavericks over the Spurs.  The only remaining series is the competitive, back & forth battle between an experienced/defensive-minded Houston Rockets team and the young/upcoming Portland Trail Blazers team.

I am definitely looking forward to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs - many great match-ups and a definite uptick in intensity across the board.  If you don’t bring your “A” game to the table, you go home… (ala the Hornets).

Saturday afternoon turned out quite well for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Not only did they easily handle the Detroit Pistons at home, but the Boston Celtics lost their first game to the Chicago Bulls (in Boston).  Cleveland has homecourt throughout the playoffs, but the road to the championship still goes through the Celtics, because they are last year’s winner.

Without Kevin Garnett, the Celtics are severely lacking in the middle and on defense.  This was quite obvious, as Derrick Rose tied a rookie record for points in a debut playoff game w/ 36 pts.  He also added 11 assists in the overtime victory, as the Bulls lead Boston by one game now.  Ray Allen was horrible, shooting less than 20% on the day and missing a game-tying shot w/ 1 second left in OT.

Tyrus Thomas, much maligned during the season for his consistency, came through in the overtime hitting several outside jump shots.  Not what he’s know for, but you take what you can get in the NBA Playoffs.  Joakim Noah dominated the boards, finishing w/ 17 rebounds to lead the young & hungry Bulls team.  They did not act like a 7th seed, but Rose in particular acts much older than his age on the court.  As he discussed after the game, he’s not afraid of the challenge and believes he can play his game against anyone.  Can’t beat real confidence.

Lebron James and Co. had the Pistons at home and it was clear throughout the game that Detroit cannot stop the Cavs.  Cleveland shot close to 60% in the first half and continued getting their way in the second half as well.  The Pistons, who were matching shot-for-shot in the first half, went a bit colder in the second and fell behind more & more as the game wore on.  Cleveland leads the series 1-0 and I doubt anyone would be surprised if the Cavaliers sweep Detroit and move on the the next round.

This season, the NBA’s Eastern Conference has dominated national headlines in newspapers and on the Internet.  This is quite the opposite of how the former “L”Eastern Conference was looked upon even just a couple years ago.  The NBA’s elite are no longer strictly in the Western Conference, as 3 of the top 4 teams in the NBA are from the East.  Only the Los Angeles Lakers are performing up to par w/ the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and defending champion Boston Celtics.

With the playoffs looming only weeks away, the East is a three (3) team race to the NBA Finals - no disrespect to the Detroit Pistons or Atlanta Hawks, who are good, but not great this season.  I’m not ready to write off the Lakers or other Western team from winning this year’s championship, but they have their work cut out for them.  The road to the NBA Championship still goes through Boston, while Cleveland and Orlando are close behind.

Here are my team reviews, in no particular order:

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland isn’t new to championship discussions, having reached the Finals and suffering at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs during one of their many “odd” year championships.  Superstar Lebron James is this season’s MVP without a doubt and has the Cavs on pace for the league’s best record this year.  Of course, James has more help this year w/ the addition of guard Mo Williams and the relative health of the other contributors.

The Cavaliers can be dominant on both ends of the court, so they have to be looked at as a serious contender.  They can shutdown Boston’s Big-3 if needed and can likely withstand a tough defensive opponent to grind out a 7-game series.

F/C Ben Wallace was recently lost due to a freak broken fibula accident, but he isn’t expected to miss the entire playoff season and will likely factor into their playoff run.   Fresh off being waived by the Thunder, forward Joe Smith was signed to help bolster the frontcourt and give the offense an added perimiter shooter and post defender.

Overall chance at winning… 3 to 1

Boston Celtics

Boston is the defending champ so they go in as the favorite once again.  With a potent offense, improved point guard play from Rajon Rondo and a decent supporting cast, the Big-3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett can carry the Celtics to another NBA title.

Health is an issue w/ this team, w/ KG recently going out of the lineup for several weeks.  While he should be back to playing shape soon and be fine for the playoffs, the Celtics will likely lose homecourt advantage in the playoffs due to the injury.

Paul Pierce has been mostly quiet this year, but consistent.  He is a proven scorer who can take over a game at any given time.  This year, he seems to be allowing Allen to shine a bit more, as well as Rondo, who’s speed and athleticism can also take over a game at times.

Boston’s bench is not the same as last year, but they have signed Stephon Marbury (yes that one) to help shore up the second unit.  So far, so good, but only time will tell if this was a good move by Ainge & Co.  The Celtics also picked up Mikki Moore, which could end up being the difference maker… he can play defense and score when given the opportunity.  With the Kings, he was a 5th or 6th scoring option and he needs to be more like the 8th or 9th.

Overall chance at winning… 2 to 1

Orlando Magic

The team that is probably the most overlooked in the Eastern Conference, Orlando could surprise people once the playoffs begin.  They have a solid defense and a potent offense, including one of the best 3-pt shooting squads in the league.  That latter is not necessarily a good thing, considering the old saying that “you live and die by the 3″.

Leading up to the All-Star break, the Magic were performing very well - leading to 3 All-Star representatives.  Some would argue that guard Jameer Nelson was not an All-Start, but that’s neither here nor there.  And of course, Nelson was injured and missed the game.  This led some to believe that the Magic had lost their chance to advance far in the playoffs.

The acquisition of Rafer Alston for virtually nothing several weeks ago has pushed Orlando right back into the playoff mix.  A pass-first poing guard, Alston brings a level of excitement and playmaking that Nelson didn’t necessarily lack, but he was looking to score more as the season went along.

The Magic are led by the new “Superman”, Dwight Howard, who is leading the NBA in both rebounds and blocks, which should lead to a Defensive Player of the Year award for the 23 yr old.  On the wings, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis lead a devastating 3-pt barrage that typically leaves other teams scrambling to keep up.  Several supporting players have stepped up and played well, including Courtney Lee, Michael Pietrus and others.

Overall chance of winning… 6 to 1

The game was a total blowout - Celtics win 131-92 over the Lakers in Game 6. Boston wins it’s 17th NBA Championship and Paul Pierce is named the 2008 NBA Finals MVP.

We’ve got a full recap over on our sister-site, at http://nbaweblog.com/. Go check it out!

Of course, you can find a full selection of 2008 NBA Championship gear at the NBA Store:

You can also shop for Celtics jerseys and apparel below (thru Amazon):

The Boston Celtics served notice on Thursday that they intend to defend their regular season record and compete for another NBA Championship.

Facing the L.A. Lakers in an epic Game 1, things looked bad for the Celtics in the 3rd quarter when Paul Pierce had to be helped off the court by teammates.  As the Lakers took the lead and appeared to be taking advantage of Pierce’s absence, the G/F re-emerged from the locker room to a standing ovation and helped lead his team back into the lead late in the 3rd quarter.

Boston’s defense was superb in the 2nd half, limiting the Lakers and stifling Kobe Bryant.  Kobe finished the game w/ 26 pts, but was 9-26 from the field, largely in part to the defense of Pierce and a few other Celtics role players.

The benches played a huge difference in Game 1; unfortunately for the Lakers, their contribution was virtually nill.  On the other hand, the Celtics got great contributions from Sam Cassell and PJ Brown, two veterans obtained late in the season to help Boston get to this point.

Kevin Garnett struggled w/ his shot late in the game, but came up w/ a monstrous comeback dunk late in the 4th quarter.

Photos from the 2008 NBA Finals - Game 1:

The Boston Celtics acquired superstar Kevin Garnett in the hopes that he could help resurrect their team and bring it back to respectability.  With his worth ethic and strong determination to win, getting Garnett was a no-brainer for GM Danny Ainge.

After leading the Celtics to the NBA’s best single season turnaround this year and making Boston one of the top defensive teams in the league, Kevin Garnett was rewarded Tuesday w/ the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.  This is the first time that Garnett has won the award - he had previously won an MVP while w/ the Timberwolves, but no defensive awards.

Garnett handily beat out the Nuggets’ Marcus Camby (last year’s winner) and 2nd runner-up Shane Battier from the Rockets.

The Celtics do not play tonight, but will resume their hunt for another NBA title tomorrow night (8pm EST) against the Atlanta Hawks.

There’s a lot of people out there who don’t like wearing jerseys of players who only play good offense - they want a jersey of the league’s defensive specialists or the defense juggernauts (ie: Wallace, Camby, Rodman, Oakley).  If that’s you, you’ll surely want to pickup a Garnett jersey (or Celtics’ jersey).

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If you don’t see the Kevin Garnett jersey you’re looking for, submit a comment below and we’ll help you find what you’re looking for.

With a strong tradition of winning, the Boston Celtics have been looking to return to the NBA’s elite the last few years.  Unfortunately, the moves made by GM Danny Ainge have been less than stellar - that is, until this past summer. 

Ainge orchestrated two mind-blowing trades that now have the Celtics perched atop the league at 21-3, easily the best record in the NBA. Ainge’s first move was picking Ray Allen from the Sonics.  The move gave the Celtics two great all-around players & shooters in Allen and Paul Pierce.

While many would’ve stopped there, Ainge went a step further and traded nearly everyone but Allen & Pierce to the Minnesota Timberwolves for superstar forward Kevin Garnett.

View all Kevin Garnett jerseys

While the dynamic duo of Allen/Pierce is certainly spectacular, it’s been Kevin Garnett’s hustle and strong determination to win that has turned the Celtics completely around from last year’s losing season.

Garnett’s defense, leadership and unselfish play are key to the Celtics - Garnett isn’t option #1 on the team, and I think that’s just fine with him.  He has two capable late-game shooters to rely on and a decent supporting cast (Rondo, Posey, Davis).

Garnett is easily the league’s most interesting player this year - his Boston Celtics jersey ranks among the NBA’s top selling items this year.  The season is still young, so you still have plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon and pickup your Kevin Garnett jersey. Available in green or white, and several variations of each, it won’t take you long to find the Kevin Garnett jersey that matches your style.

Here are the top Kevin Garnett jerseys to choose from:

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If you don’t see the Kevin Garnett jersey you’re looking for, submit a comment below and we’ll help you find what you’re looking for.